The city once had an all-civilian board, but voters abolished it more than 20 years ago in a bitter referendum.

Council leaders and the Mayor have agreed in principle on the structure of an all-civilian board and are in negotiations about the details.

The Speaker makes an equally convincing case that police officers need reassurance that an all-civilian board wouldn't be stacked against them.

Mr. Dinkins supports an all-civilian board, while the police unions want their own members represented.

He also made public a plan to create an all-civilian board to review complaints of police brutality.

Pressure for an all-civilian board grew in 1964 after a police shooting sparked civil unrest in Harlem.

The Mayor said any effort to advance the all-civilian board might result in an "ugly, divisive referendum."

The Mayor's push for an all-civilian board to investigate complaints against them, they say, only proves their point.

In a backlash, the City Council voted to create an all-civilian board, and ecstatic supporters expected near-revolutionary change.

An organization of black law-enforcement officers also voiced support for an all-civilian board.